Word has begun spreading around, originating from Next-Gen.Biz, about Infinity Ward potentially looking to secure exclusive development of the Call of Duty franchise. As many COD fans should know, the games were originally spearheaded by the gang at Infinity Ward, as the first two games were developed by the team. Following COD2, Treyarch took the responsibilities of COD3, in addition to a few spin-offs, while Infinity Ward began work on Call of Duty 4.

Well, after enormous critical acclaim, absurdly huge sales, and a welcomed breath of fresh air, Activision had decided to let Treyarch work on Call of Duty 5. Moreover, they'll be taking the series back to the beaten-deader-than-a-dead-horse World War II scenario. This decision has been met with a lot of anger, seeing as how COD3 is widely regarded to be the worst of the series, and Treyarch was behind it.

Now that you've been caught up with the drama, let's get back to the topic at hand. This rumor of I.W. attempting to secure exclusivity allegedly comes from a former Activision employee, someone from the recently closed Foster City/Underground studio. Why could this have credence? Well, apparently, the reason why Activision had shut down their Underground Studio (formerly Z-Axis), is because after they finished Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for the PS3, they were supposed to work on a third-person Call of Duty spin-off.

So why aren't they? The reason why Activision has axed the studio is because Infinity Ward may have very well gotten their wish at working on COD games exclusively, leaving the Underground Studio with no project to work on, and thus no point to remain in operation. And that, kids, is just how the cookie, has potentially crumbled.

I guess it's worth re-noting that there's a third-person Call of Duty somewhere development, and that Activision plans to release two Call of Duty branded games every year. Hmmm...I'm reminded of another franchise that does the same thing, you may know it as Tom Clancy.

Activision would be so stupid to not give Infinity Ward the rights to development of CoD. Obviously people play CoD because IW made it - Treyarch comes in and makes CoD3, the worst of the series and IW makes CoD4, the best of the series. CoD2 is still the game to beat for WWII shooters.

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Most Anticipated Title(s): Mass Effect and Lost OdysseyNow Playing: Halo 3, Blue Dragon, Call of Duty 2, and Gears of War

There was a CoD in third person perspective, I read about it today.But they pulled the plug on that project.

Rumors also say that I.W. and Activiosn were not very impressed with the game.

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Third-Person Call Of Duty Game Cancelled Because It Was "A Mess"

So the rumour's been SMASHED. Activision Underground, who were supposedly working on a third-person Call of Duty game, weren't closed down because of a non-existent "exclusivity" deal Infinity Ward signed with Activision. And yet, closed down they were. Why? Maybe for reasons a little less eye-catching. Somebody "close" to Activision Underground has got in touch with us, and let us know that the studio was indeed at work on a third-person action-adventure CoD, which would have been based on special ops forces and would feature "very different kinds of gameplay". Only problem was, the game turned out to be, well, a big ol' pile of crap.

Our source says that its mechanics "were a mess", the story was "terrible" and that "it took every cliché you hated from every other squad-based military shooter and stuffed it into COD". Ouch. Apparently the game was cancelled - and the studio closed down - soon after it was first shown to Infinity Ward & Activision, who "had a fit" at what they'd seen. For what it's worth, fingers are being pointed at the game's creative director, who "hired a team of utter beginners and tossed the project to them without any metrics or direction".